Police in Edmonton have charged a 32-year-old woman in custody in connection with the death of young boy.

Police were called to an apartment building in the city's southwest at just after 8:30 a.m on Tuesday after receiving a call of a boy in medical distress.

Paramedics arriving on scene found the boy and immediately rushed him to hospital.

He was pronounced dead while there.

Police have declared the death a homicide and have since laid a charge of first degree murder.

Nerlin Sarmiento, 32, has been charged and will appear in court on Friday.

It's believed that Sarmiento is the boy's mother.

“We firmly believe we have enough evidence to show the death was premeditated,” EPS Staff Sgt. Bill Clark said. “This investigation has been extremely hard on the family and everyone involved, for obvious reasons.

“It is rare that we are called to investigate the criminal death of a child.”

There is no more official information on how he died, but multiple sources say the boy was drowned.

"It was obvious it was a very suspicious, very tragic set of circumstances that we discovered inside. So we knew their involvement, they would be required from the get-go," said Acting Insp. Malcolm Allan.